Description
Book SynopsisTracing the complex process by which Budapest became a Hungarian city, Robert Nemes offers an open-ended picture of nation-building and urban development. In 1800, the towns of Buda, Pest, and Óbudawhich would later unite to form Budapestwere dusty, provincial, and largely German-speaking. By century''s end, Budapest had become a burgeoning metropolis, a capital, and a manifestly Hungarian city. Few nineteenth-century cities grew as rapidly, and in none was nationalism woven so tightly into the urban fabric.
The Once and Future Budapest explores Hungarian nationalism in daily events and maps its inroads into every corner of urban life. Drawing upon newspapers, memoirs, and other largely untapped sources, Nemes shows how the national idea influenced painting, architecture, literature, and music, as well as dress and the names of streets, shops, and even children.
The Hungarian national movement gave many residents of Budapest their first taste of politics. By focus
Trade Review
Nemes' imaginative and carefully researched book provides invaluable insight into the complex worlds of nineteenth-century nationalism and urbanism in Central Europe.
* AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW *
Erudite and entertaining.... Nemes skillfully weaves together material from a wide variety of sources to produce a richly textured analysis.
* Journal of Modern History *
Stimulating and well-written... informative, original, and highly readable.
* Slavic Review *
Table of ContentsTable of Contents
Illustrations
Preface
Introduction
One—Buda-Pest, Ofen-Pest
Two—Mud, Dust, and Horses
Three—Club Life
Four—Women and Cultural Politics
Five—Streets and Squares
Six—The Revolutionary Capital
Seven—The Road to Budapest
Conclusion—The Hungarian Capital
Notes
Bibliography
Index
